Rock Star Soldier
by Xandranda
Summary: Henry Faith, receptionist to the G-Boys. Rita Harringstone, Rockstar and undercover preventer agent. Someone knows they're one and the same, with lives on the line can she keep her secret, stop the bad guys and finally get a date with Trowa?
1. Two sides, One coin

She lives!!! Oh, my gods, I haven't updated since 2007! It's horrific, but, my horrendous writers block is beginning to lift and thus, here I be. And with a new story for you all! I haven't' seen this being done for Gundam Wing yet so let me know what you think, if you like the idea and it's worth pursuing.

Enjoy

Xandrandra xxx

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Two sides, One coin

She scribbled her name on the pieces of paper that were thrust at her, a grin on her face, the mask secured across her eyes as random hands reached to remove it. Eventually a hand at her back signalled her to move towards the waiting car where she climbed in, turning to wave at the camera flashes before the door was closed and the car sped off. She grabbed one of the bottles of water that waited for her on the seat and gulped it down, stretching out she watched the world fly by the tinted windows as the night crawled over the city, sighing as the night disappeared above the roof of a car park, she waited for the door to open and she stepped out onto the concrete, typing in the password to access the lift she stepped inside, her driver and body guard staying with the car. She stepped out of the lift when it reached the ground floor, her heels clicking on the tiled floor of the lobby as she passed the receptionist without a glance, walking by empty offices, their lights off, she headed for the row of lifts, hitting the button she took out a packet of what appeared to be cigarettes, pulling one out and placing it between her lips as the doors opened to an empty lift, she stepped inside and pushed the button, putting the packet back in her pocket, pulling out the lighter and taking a drag as she lit up, red and blue smoke curling around the lift as it made it's sedate rise. She left the lift with a dusting of ash on the floor and a single butt, a newly lit one between her fingers, her heels made less sound on the now carpeted area, corridors leading off in the three remaining directions the lift left, sofas filling the current space, a number of people looking over the backs at her, their eyes going wide, one girl, still in her teens stood and made her way over with a magazine and a pen,

'Ah, could I…'

'Sure kid.' She held the cigarette between her lips as she scribbled a quick message to the girl on the cover, just under her own picture,

She left the girl in her own world, walking past the sofas, hips swinging in her tight mini skirt, the open shirt she wore revealing little more than a strapped tube top, though her skin was still covered in the body paint she always wore onstage, matching the different patterns on each of her masks, be it polka dots or tiger stripes, the current design of colourful swirls accented every curve she owned, spreading under the little clothing she wore and down her legs until they met her shoes, stiletto heels in a lewd orange, clashing with the green mini and purple top she wore, the shirt was black, borrowed from a technician at the show in exchange for a kiss on the cheek. She ignored those she passed though another brave girl stepped forward with another magazine, to which she obliged before moving on, eventually reaching the office she desired, the lights on and voices from inside, the PA looked at her with wide eyes before reaching for the phone, barely beginning to speak before she had opened the door and walked inside, closing it behind her. There were a number of people in the room, all sat around the large table Une used as a desk, six men and two women, then Une at the head, the phone to her ear,

'Never mind then, I trust you've had a good night,' she only inclined her head in reply, 'did you find anything out?'

'I pulled a few likely ones backstage, they didn't know much but the Mexico military site was one thing they all agreed on.' She smirked to herself,

'Where are they now?'

'on their way to the emergency room I think, got into a fight after leaving my dressing room, two of my people are keeping an eye on them though, make sure they get home safe and that.' Her smirk grew wider,

'Let me know if you find out anything else, if anything new comes up, I'll let you know.'

She turned on her heel, leaving in a swirl of coloured smoke, making her way back to the lifts and down to the car park where she got back in the car again, pulling off the mask and throwing it on the seat beside her, the paint covering her body making another mask beneath the worn one, for emergencies. She kicked off her heels and massaged her feet, downing another bottle of water, watching the world once again until they entered the gates of a six story apartment complex, the car drove around the building and into the car park where the car stopped and she left her driver and body guard in the car as she headed for the lift, heels and mask knocking at her thigh, she could hear the metal gates that led to the car park slam shut as the lift opened and she stepped in, pressing the button for the top floor, a retinal scanner blinking into life to prove her identity, the button having already scanned her thumb print. One of the handy things about being involved with the preventers was the security around her home, this seemingly normal apartment building housed, in truth only herself and a handful of others including security guards, a cleaner or two, the rest of the rooms were a variety of luxuries, a gym, swimming pool, recording studio etc, her home occupied the entire top floor, gym below that with the recording studio, three more levels of accommodation and swimming pool on the ground floor along with the reception. The lift doors opened to a very short corridor with a single door ahead of her this door required a correct voice match and a numerical code, it clicked open quietly, the lights turning on automatically, she could hear the shower start running as she closed the door behind her, next to the door a touch screen panel that controlled almost everything in her home, she always grinned at the thought of what her friends would say if they found out she was such a techno junkie. In front of the door in the main hall area was her grand piano a glossy black with plants on top, on carefully designed bases of course, round to the right were the living area and her kitchen diner, all possibly too large for one person but she liked the space, it was filled with clutter, photos, mementos of trips, junk she'd got given for birthday presents, her platinum disks lining the walls, a ten seat dining table filling most of the space left over by her L shaped sofa, giant flat screen plasma on the wall the entire apartment decorated like a picture in a magazine, off white carpets and walls, it's furnishings adding colour, the black marble kitchen with it's red accents and chrome finishes, the clear glass table and the different coloured glass chairs, the sea blue sofa and the not quite green blue fluffy rug, cushions and bean bags of all shapes, colours and textures thrown about the living area giving, what she thought was a cosy lived in feel to an otherwise open cold space. To the left of the piano sat her study, open plan like the rest of her home, but smaller, thanks to the walls of her bedroom and bathroom, her wrap around desk giving her fantastic views of the parkland that surrounded the apartment building, her computers filling almost all of the space, with a small area for her paperwork, a few filing cabinets a scanner, printer, fax machine, all the toys she could find, she knew a few people who would raise an eyebrow, if not envy her. She headed left, but walked through one of only four doors inside her apartment and into her bedroom, once again, luxury queen sized bed, chez lounge, large vanity area taking up and entire corner with a full length mirror beside it, a large dresser and a door that led, technically behind the lift but really into her wardrobe, her bright outfits, shoes, hats, masks and accessories on the left, blander, in comparison, clothing to the right. In the bedroom, lined along one wall were four wooden boxes, fitting with the rooms light wood and creams, each about waist height, one for masks, one for accessories, one for clothes and one for shoes, she stripped off, throwing her things in the respective cases, someone would be round tomorrow while she was out and have them cleaned and placed back in her wardrobe for her, she headed through the final door in her room and into her bathroom, another door led to the rest of the apartment, but once one door was locked, both were locked, not that she ever locked the doors, she was the only one inside and if her security system didn't alert her to a break in, a lock door certainly wasn't about to slow them down. The bathroom was warm with the heat of the walk in shower that sat at one end of the room, passed the two sinks that sat opposite the extra large, extra deep tub and the toilet opposite her, next to the other door. She stepped into the shower, double checking that there were towels laid on the counter for her, as usual, jumping under the stream of water, her soaps and shampoos in a rack on the wall, she pumped the plunger and lathered herself up scrubbing at the paint that water alone wouldn't shift without some serious work, one wall of the shower, away from the head was a non steam mirror, she used this to check that the paint had gone, making careful work of her hairline where it tended to stick before moving onto washing the colour, glitter and products out of her hair singing as she did. Finishing, giving herself one last check over in the mirror before hitting the touch screen to shut off the water, wringing out then wrapping up her hair before rubbing herself down with another towel, sitting at the vanity and blow drying her hair until it was dry, giving herself one final rub with the towels before throwing them in the clothes bin and sliding between the sheets, touching a panel on the bedside table, setting her alarm and turning off the lights.

'I don't wanna go to work,' she muttered to herself, getting up anyway, turning off the alarm, the sound of the radio taking its place,

She walked into her wardrobe, looking to the right and pulling out a pair of grey suit trousers and a baggy beige top, launching them both onto the bed, she examined the shoes and jackets a little further along the rail, a mustard yellow jacket landed on the bed and a set of grey slip ons landed on the floor beside it. Moving to the dresser she pulled out a set of camel underwear, nothing pretty, just plain, they do the job underwear she always said, pulling them on and wiggling into the trousers and top she applied a little mascara and eyeliner, a simple pale ochre to her lips before pulling out a pair of odd socks and pulling them and the shoes onto her feet. Pulling her hair up into a bun she made her way to the kitchen opening the bread bin and making some toast, pulling out butter and marmite while waiting for it to pop, the days paper sat in it's usual place on the counter, she opened it with one hand while pouring some orange juice into a glass with the other, moving to butter and marmite the toast before heading back to the paper, leaning over the counter to eat off the chopping board rather than a plate. She read the reviews for last nights performance and the days main headlines, making short work of the toast and juice before grabbing her pre-packed bag with purse, keys and phone before walking out the door and making her way to the lift, tapping her foot to a tune in her head as she descended and out of the main doors. The walked out the front gates and up the road to where the bus stop stood, she jogged the last couple of meters to jump on the bus, flashing a grin at the driver who by now, knew her face and the fact that she had a pass and took a seat, looking out the window as they began to move. She got off at her stop with a "thank you, have a nice day" to the driver she stopped in at the coffee shop, getting her usual order and the weeks magazine she made her way to work, her flat shoes silent on the tiled lobby floor as she passed the receptionist with a smile and a greeting, walking by offices, their lights on and people coming and going, she headed for the row of lifts, hitting the button she opened the magazine and began to read, she stepped inside and pushed the button. She left the lift with her nose still in the magazine, her feet making even less sound on the now carpeted area, corridors leading off in the three remaining directions the lift left, sofas filling the current space, greetings thrown at her as people passed,

'Oh, Lady Une!' she called, making a half jog towards her, the magazine stuffed under one arm, 'Coffee, as usual,' she pulled the cup out of the paper bag and handed it to her,

'Thank you, Maxwell is running late, as usual, and therefore so is Chang…'

'I'll shuffle their schedules if it needs to be, they'll just have cold coffee again.' She shrugged, walking with her until she reached her office, the entrance to the five ex-gundam pilot's offices,

She walked in, putting her bag behind her desk, quickly looking to see if there were any messages on the phone and hitting the on switch of her computer, she pulled out three of the coffee cups and headed off to the first of the five offices, placing the first on Heero Yuy's desk, picking up the list of things to do and shoving it under her arm, slightly pleased he was out, she then entered Trowa Barton's office, putting his coffee on his desk and picking up his to do list, giving the quietest and secretly her favourite of the five a brief good morning before making her way to Quatre Winner's office,

'Morning Sir,' she chirped,

'Call me Quatre,'

'Will do Sir,' she grinned at their usual morning greeting, 'good night off?'

'Didn't happen, something came up and we all ended up staying late, Wufei is still trying to get Duo out of bed,'

'So I've heard from the boss lady, what's happened? Or is it all hush hush?' she asked picking up his to do list,

'Confidential I'm afraid, how was your night?'

'oh, my, god, it was amazing, I went to the Rita concert, she is amazing!' she waved the papers about for emphasis, 'she had this swirly body paint, so that's going to be the next fashion craze, oh, I just love her, you know that.' She shook her head with a laugh, 'you sure there isn't another page to this? It's not even a third of what the other two have got,' she asked, waving his to do list,

'it's all quiet on the political front today I'm afraid, I'll see if I can find some envelopes for you to write or something,' he chuckled,

'Righty oh sir!' she saluted, hitting herself in the eye with the paper, making them both laugh,

She took her seat at her desk and logged onto the computer, pulling out her coffee and the two remaining cups, throwing the bag in the recycling bin she pulled up the five's schedule, Yuy in a meeting from half 11 until 1pm, the rest free until half 1 when all five had to have a meeting with the board about the latest funding. She set to work on the three to do lists she had, printing off the necessary information and forms and binding them together, putting smiley faces on the post it notes with the relevant name on it, holding out one of the coffee cups as Wufei Chang stormed in, taking the cup and slamming the door to his office closed behind him.

'What did you do this time?' she asked, looking up at the last of the five, Duo Maxwell,

'Like I know!' he shrugged, taking his own mug and perching on her desk, 'so, what did you do last night?'

A grin grew on her face as she showed him the cover of her magazine, 'I managed to blag a ticket!' she squealed,

'You what? And I wasn't invited why?' he grabbed the magazine from her,

'Because I could only get one and you were supposed to be having a blokes night in, playing poker or something, weren't you.'

'Oh yeah, but still, you get any photos? Autographs?'

'Even better,' She grinned, reaching into her purse and pulling out the CD case she'd grabbed earlier that morning, 'the new album, not out in shops yet, she happened to sign it for me too!'

She watched his jaw drop and she waved the case back and forth, his eyes following it,

'Bitch, next time, I'm coming with you.' He gave her a half glare, taking his coffee and heading towards his office,

'Yo, Duo! Belated Birthday present, catch!' she frisbeed the case to him, almost making him drop the coffee,

'Quatre!' he yelled, changing direction as he read the message on the case, 'Henry got this signed for me, by Rita! Oh man! Rita touched this case! Ah! This is the best day ever!' he flew back out of 04's office and into the first, finding Heero missing he charged out of the office completely,

'I know, I know, I should have waited until after work, but I couldn't wait that long.' She called out to the three remaining.

The day passed without further incident, she joined the other receptionists in the canteen for lunch, each gossiping about the previous night's concert, though she made her excuses and headed back to the office before lunch had finished, checking all her email accounts while no one was around. She headed home at six and looked forward to nothing more than a quiet night with a book, though she had no such luck, she was about to board the bus when her phone ran, glancing at it she shrugged at the driver and headed back to the office, jogging into Lady Une's office,

'What now?' she slumped into one of the chairs, crossing her legs and leaning back,

'You were right about Mexico, partly at least, appears to be more than just a training ground.'

'And?' she yawned,

'You need to go,'

'What? You're not serious.' She let her head flop back, 'You know I've booked my holiday! It starts on Monday, can't it wait?'

'No, I want you to go to Mexico, just general surveillance, that can be your holiday.'

'My bonus better be huge this month, fine, I'll organise something, and you owe me, got it,' she glared, standing and leaving the room, heading for home once again.

She phoned the relevant people when she got home, organising a gig at the training grounds, she was known for doing such things at short notice, she had a short work out in her gym though her heart wasn't in it, her mind couldn't focus on a book either so she settled for TV, though that was short lived as she appeared to be on every channel in some shape or form, the concert from last night or her latest interview. She sighed and headed for bed, staring at the ceiling for what seemed like hours before her annoyance fizzled out and she drifted off.

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So, up to standards? Let me know! You know how much I like to hear your comments, be constructive; I don't care for the effing and blinding kind of reviews. Let me know if there is anything you'd particularly like to see in this. It will be an OC/03 eventually, but I don't really do sappy love as those who've read my other stuff will know. But ideas are always welcome.

I'll update soon!

Xandrandra xxx


	2. Mornings

Thank you for bearing with me, hope you like this next instalment!

Xandrandra xx

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Mornings

She stayed low on the bike, her hair falling out of it's style and whipping around her face, she skidded around a corner and continued on, heading for the border, the stolen black bike purring beneath her, the army pattern on her skin hiding her well enough, though in the back of her mind she was glad she decided on khaki bottoms rather than a skirt, though her arms and torso were frozen, the tank top not ideal for high speed chases, the border appeared in her vision, she could see one of the gates open for her, some of her body guards standing by it, keeping it clear, she blew past them without slowing and headed up into America, driving until the dawn broke and she reached the hotel she had organised in advance. More of her team where there waiting for her,

'Get rid of the bike, preferably far away, organise a crash in Florida, don't kill anyone, make it a tour bus, give them all some cash on behalf of the company, enough that they wont sue them. And get me a flight home at around lunch time; make it a big deal, I want press and everything, oh, and tell Madison to be here early, the paint might take a while with these cuts.' She told them as they escorted her to her room where she tore off her clothes and got in the shower scrubbing the paint off as best she could without the use of a mirror, even her usual shower singing taking a slightly aggressive pitch, her mood didn't improve with the shower and she didn't even bother to dry her hair as she flopped onto the bed.

She was woken by her makeup artist and stylist Madison who just shook her head at her before pulling out the day's travelling outfit, faded and ripped bell bottom jeans and a strappy tie dye top. She began on her face, painting thorns, adding a few more cuts to her face and arms, the thorns making a kind of tattoo effect on her skin; over her eyes she painted two large daisy flowers, even gluing petals to her eyelashes, the thorns clashing with the slightly hippy clothing, she grinned at herself in the mirror and her shoulder length blonde hair was backwards combed and flowers pinned in. her mask was secured, two flowers, like the paint on her eyes, but her eyelashes poked through the eye slots and gave off a stunning 3D effect. She downed a mug of coffee, letting her lipstick be touched up for her before she headed down for the car, the only press they encountered were at the shuttle port, which is what she wanted, if she was going to be shot and killed, she'd prefer for everyone to see and know. She slept through most of the shuttle ride, kicking off her platform flip flops, but keeping the mask in place. When they landed she stood, getting the nod from Madison before waltzing into the terminal, camera flashes beginning even before she was in sight, she signed a few auto graphs, posed for a few fan pictures and for the press before she left for the car, they arrived in the underground car park once more, she grabbed the folder off the car seat and headed for the lift, one cigarette between her lips and another behind her ear by the time she past the receptionist who gasped and grabbed her phone, she stalked up to the lifts, smoking heavily, clouds of smoke weaving behind her as she entered a lift alone, the rest waiting for the next available. When she reached the top floor she ignored the sudden silence at her appearance as she walked towards Une's office, as she past she could hear the gossiping beginning,

'What are you doing here?' Une growled at her as she closed the door on the gossiping, the same group from the last time she appeared filling the seats,

'Well, I would have waited but I thought this was a bit too important.' She returned the glare, sliding the file up the table, 'But maybe I'm wrong and Nukes are part of every training facility.' She shrugged seating herself on the arm of 03's chair, putting one foot on the side of 02's

'Nukes? Yeah right!' 02 scoffed,

'But they were outlawed decades ago,' 04 shook his head,

'Funny thing about criminals, they don't care.' She looked at him with a half smile, 'and I have a bad feeling that they've caught onto me too. I spent last night hightailing it across the American border after being shot at, not the usual farewell for a rock star you know. My team took care of everyone, but there's a chance the word might have already been passed on,'

'it can't be helped, we knew it would come to this eventually, we'll put someone in the base and keep and eye on it for a while, see if we can find out who and why, you, be careful, let us know if you need any extra protection.'

'Thanks but no thanks. Keep me posted, call me if you need an extra pair of hands,' she stood and left again.

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'Morning Sir,' she chirped,

'Call me Quatre,'

'Will do Sir,'

'Henry, what on earth happened to you?' the blonde's eyes went wide,

'yeah, one hell of a week off, the tour bus crashed!' she put her hand up to the steri strips on her forehead, 'I'm alright though, only bumps and bruises, it's just typical of my luck though, anything else I can get you?'

'I'm fine thanks, take care of yourself.'

'I do!' she left the room and sat at her desk, pulling out a compact mirror from her bag and examining the steri strips,

'Whoa, what happened to you?'

'The tour bus crashed, my first holiday in months and I get an idiot driver. I'm fine, looks worse than it is,' she told Duo, prodding the bruise a little,

'Eh, could've been worse you know!'

'Yeah, you could've been driving!' he stuck his tongue out at her, 'give me a yell when you've done your list, I'm planning an early finish today then a soak in the bath to make up for my shitty holiday.'

When she returned from lunch a message from Une's PA sat on her desk, she entered Trowa's office, the only one back from lunch,

'Hey hun, message from the boss lady, meeting at 2 for the five of you with the heads of the training departments, it'll last as long as it lasts.' She lent against the doorframe,

'You'll be there?'

'Yeah, with my Dictaphone as usual, so much for an early finish eh.' She shook her head, a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth her reply,

She relayed the same message to the other four, following them with her pad, pen and dictaphone into Une's office, taking a seat behind the five, facing the windows that ran along one side of the office, she put the dictaphone on the table and started it up, settling herself in her seat with the pad on her lap. She pulled a slightly squashed packet of mints out of her back pocket, nudging Duo with her foot to offer him one, leaning to pass another to Quatre and waving them over Trowa's shoulder until he took one to stop her, Heero and Wufei too far away for her to annoy. She tuned off as she did in most of the meetings, no one could read her short hand, or make sense of it at least, well, she laughed inside her head, they were song lyrics, so they wouldn't find any sense in them, regarding the meeting anyway, she scribbled a few choice words and phrases, she crunched up the last of her mint, earning a glare from across the table, she sighed to herself, mentally rolling her eyes and resigning herself to another boring meeting. They all left the office at gone seven pm she had eventually been forced to drawing pictures in the margins of her note book, lyrics eventually running away from the boredom, her bum had gone to sleep, her legs were tingling and her back ached from the badly designed office chairs, the six of them moved back to the offices, turned off their equipment and grabbed their things, heading to the lifts. Duo hummed happily while Wufei thumbed through a newspaper, she smiled to herself recognising Duo's chosen theme, they left waving to the receptionist and moving onto the steps leading to the main doors, where she stepped on some left over fast food packaging and slid on her bum down the steps until she came to a stop at the bottom, she groaned to herself, resisting the urge to punch the steps,

'Henry, are you alright?' Quatre grabbed her arm and pulled her up, brushing her down,

'Yeah, geez, it's not my month!' she shook her head, trying to look at the back of her coat for any marks,

'Eh, come on, I'll buy you a drink! Karaoke in the George!' Duo arrived at her side,

'I don't sing Duo, you know that!'

'Yeah, I didn't say you had to sing, come on, I'm offering you a drink,' he turned on the puppy dog eyes, 'the whole gang is coming, even Trowa and Heero, come on, please?'

'Leave her alone Duo, if she doesn't want to let her be,' Quatre shook his head at his friend, throwing her a smile,

'Umm,' she thought for a moment, her mind registering that Trowa would be attending, quite an uncommon occurrence for the silencer, 'why the fuck not! I haven't been pissed in a long time, lead the way sweetheart!' she grinned, slinging her bag over her head and buttoning up her coat.

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The next morning found her phoning into work sick, not that she couldn't deal with the slight headache she had but she was sure she would blush beet red at the first sign of the five men she worked for,

'How could I have been so stupid!' she asked the ceiling of her bedroom, still to get out of bed, 'I sang! I bloody well sang!'

She wasn't sure when, but she had very vivid memories of standing on the karaoke stage with a microphone in her hand, Duo at her side, singing her heart out, and not pretending to be bad as she usually did when singing around people. She prayed to any god that was listening that the five had drunk as much as she had, they had been dancing, Duo coercing Quatre to sing with him at one point, she felt her face turn red as she remembered a slightly steamy dance with Trowa, pressed together in the mass of bodies on the dance floor. She jumped out of bed and pulled on her swimsuit, heading to the ground floor with her swimming robe wrapped around her, she dived in and swam lengths for most of the morning, only getting out to eat lunch, then collapsing on her sofa to watch TV, sitting up properly as the news came on and one of the main news stories was about a shooting outside the George pub, shortly after closing time, a blonde girl seen with one of the preventer agents who "frequented the pub after their shifts" was shot and was now in hospital in a stable condition, the gunman was seen fleeing the scene. She almost tripped over the towel that was wrapped around her as she ran to her computer, booting it up and pulling up the news feed,

'Ten minutes after I left.' She concluded, having phoned via the ladies loos for her own car to pick her up from out the back,

She spent the rest of the day phoning around for extra security at her next few gigs and for an armoured car to replace her regular one, that night she couldn't sleep, despite having spent three hours in the gym to try to tire herself out, eventually she gave up and worked on some new lyrics, emailing them to her manager and going through some of the new body paint designs from Madison, okay or rejecting them before finally heading back to bed in the early hours.

'You sure you're okay Henry? You're not looking so good today, why don't you go back home, get some rest? You've been a little off for about a week now.'

'No thanks Quatre, I'm fine, just didn't sleep well last night.' Not that she was going to mention the fact that she had been at a gig the night before and didn't get back until six that morning and had yet to go to sleep.

She moved through the day in a sort of daze, she skipped lunch again to check her emails; she had hired her own team of people to try and find out who was attacking her, whether it was a crazed fan or something even more sinister, the gig the night before had been cut short when a "faulty" pyrotechnic devise went off mere centimetres from her. She worked through the piles of paper work that had piled up after the shooting outside the George the week before, she jumped as a pair of hands put down a plate of Chinese, a bottle of water and a mug of coffee on her desk, she lent back in her chair, hand over her heart

'God, Trowa, you silent bugger, you nearly gave me a heart attack.' She rubbed her hands over her face, suppressing a yawn,

'That's for you, quit skipping lunch,' he told her, disappearing into his office.

She smiled despite herself, finishing the food quickly, using the paper plate as a Frisbee, almost hitting the bin, the smile stayed throughout the day, the coffee helping slightly, and even increased when he bid her goodbye for the evening, she waited until the rest left, Duo giving her a wink, sending her blushing, he'd made a few comments on her dancing skills and the fact of her delivery boy for the day, she then made her way down to the car park where a new armoured car waited, this time a green colour, she got in and let out a hefty sigh, gone were the days of getting the bus, which she had quite enjoyed, it was such a normal thing.

The driver slowed as he reached the gates, though unable to drive pass, three pest control vans blocked off the entrance she could see a number of her security team talking to people dressed as pest control, but which she was sure weren't, a member off the security team waved them on,

'Okay, just drive around a bit,' she pulled out her phone, 'Hey, Quatre, sorry to call you at home but I'm in a bit of a dilemma… no I'm alright, there's a pest problem at my place and they're not letting anyone in, … yeah, a really bad month, I don't even know what type of bug it is! But you said once that I should call you if I ever need a favour, well, could I stay at yours for a bit, just until I sort something else out?... thank you, you are an Angel. Yeah, let me pass you to the taxi driver, yeah, I would've stayed in a hotel otherwise.' She passed the phone to the driver who was brief in words with the blonde, passing the phone back and heading off to the address.

She groaned and threw a little tantrum at the air on the back seat, life just wasn't as fun as it used to be she thought to herself, what on earth was going to happen at her next gig, she thanked the driver when he stopped and stepped out of the car, Quatre's home was a rather modest size estate, it was impressive even by her standards,

'Henry!' Duo charged down the path at her as the security gates opened slightly, 'Are you okay?'

'yeah, fine, they weren't letting any one so I haven't got any germs….'

'You haven't heard? There was a car bomb in the underground car park, about half hour after we all left, completely destroyed the ground floor along with the first and second, we thought you were still there until Quatre phoned and said you were on your way just now!' he took a deep breath and slung his arm around her shoulder, 'haven't you got any stuff with you?

'no, couldn't get to it, a car bomb? What time?'

'about half past six, it's the time you usually leave isn't it?' he asked, pulling her along the drive, the gates closing behind her,

'yeah, I left just before, god, was anyone hurt?' that's why they wouldn't let her in, if some one was targeting her they could know where she lived,

'receptionist had snuck out for a cigarette, the bomb gutted the place, but it's built like a fortress, had to get the fire brigade to get those on the upper floors down though, only about fifty people in the building, luckily none on those floors, hurry up, Trowa's cooking tonight, so the food is edible.' She breathed a sigh of relief; she'd phone Madison to get the full story later,

The evening passed in a blur to her, dinner was pasta of some kind, there was tactical talk at the table from the five men, which had her a little stunned at first, she'd worked for them for almost four years, she landed the job just before her twenty third birthday, and not once did it cross her mind that they lived together, she knew none were in a relationship, well, she'd yet to see any of them with another, but she had just assumed, from their varying arrival times, that they lived apart, but she was wrong, the five called this large estate home. She was shown her room, smaller than the one she had at home, no walk in wardrobe or on suite, just a double bed with two bedside tables, two tall windows above each, a large wardrobe and dresser against another wall, a desk sitting against the third, the door facing the bed, the bathroom was two doors down from her room, a bath, a walk in shower, loo and double sink. She had a whirlwind tour of the house courtesy of Duo, gym, library, computer room, kitchen, dining room, TV room, and what he called the bachelor pad which had a pool table, a poker table, a number of very comfortable looking sofas and numerous games sat out on tables. It was in this room that he left her, she phoned Madison and got a short version of events, that keeping her away from home was a precaution only, and to stay away for at least a week, after putting the phone down she found a pack of cards and attempted to play solitaire but her mind kept wandering, she must have been staring at the cards in her hand and on the table for over a half hour when a voice came from behind her,

'Seven of hearts on the eight of clubs,'

'Huh?' she looked over her shoulder, Trowa just shook his head and moved the cards for her, turning over the next one, 'oh, right, sorry, in my own world for a minute there.' She shrugged,

'What's wrong? You've been quiet.'

'Coming from you that's a little disturbing.' She put the cards on the table, and leaned back on the sofa so she could look up at him, 'a car bomb in the preventer's car park, how the fuck did they manage that? And the shooting at the George, I know I'm not an agent or anything, but that looks suspicious to me.'

'It wouldn't be the first time someone's targeted one of us.' He shrugged,

'And of all the houses I choose to crash at,' she shook her head, of course they would think it was one of them they were after, whoever they were, the guys didn't know about the Gigs.

'you're safe, we wouldn't let anyone get hurt,' he rubbed her shoulder briefly, 'Heero and Quatre like to keep this place as safe as it can be, I'm sure they know how many birds are flying over head at some times.' He told her, leaving the room again,

Physical contact, she felt the blush begin, her, not quite as secret as she'd like, attraction to the silencer had been almost instant, she had been recruited by Lady Une for her espionage advantage, she had been known as Rita for a long time before joining the preventers, she had then had to convince the five that she was the girl for the job, and thus a formal interview. She had been out stared by both Heero and Wufei, who had both just grunted at her, Quatre had been his usual polite and friendly self and Duo had her laughing out loud a few times, Trowa on the other hand had just stared gently at her from under his hair, it had unnerved her at the time. The five had liked her and she had become their receptionist/secretary and a kind of PA to each of them, she had been awful in the first weeks, trying to juggle her other career along side the office hours even though it was only three to four days a week, but a routine had soon appeared and she seemed to please the five and found herself looking forward to any excuse to talk to Trowa, she'd even sent him a valentines card that first year, but she had grown up in the four years she had been a preventer and had stopped being so childish about it all. She was attracted to him, she knew that, she sighed to herself, highly attracted to him, he was the only male who could make her blush with what passed as a smile in his eyes, she could probably have just about any guy she wanted, and her body just had to choose that one. She wanted to work out, but she didn't have the clothes for it, or the inclination to work out in front of the five, she could try to have a shower, but the chances of her singing were pretty high when her mind was wandering as it currently was, she groaned, of all the places she thought of to crash she chose here. She stood and made her way into the kitchen,

'Would you like some tea? You look like you could use some.'

'Thanks Quatre, for everything, I'll be out of your hair in a few days I promise.'

'I don't mind how long you stay, the place is more than big enough,' he told her, pulling out another cup and saucer, joining her at the breakfast bar where he began to pour the tea from the pot, 'you seem distracted at the moment, a change of scenery might do you good.' he smiled,

'Yeah, maybe, I've just got a few things on my mind at the moment,' she told him adding milk and sugar to her cup,

'Anything you want to talk to me about? I'm a very good listener, or so I've been told,'

'No, not really, it's personal,' she shook her head, taking a few sips,

'Is it about Trowa?'

She almost dropped the cup but stopped herself, 'what?' she asked turning to him and putting the cup down,

'Duo told me, I think it's nice,' he smiled again,

'Nice! I'm gonna castrate him with my stilettos, the git, does he not understand the word secret?'

'This is Duo we're talking about Henry, and besides, I'd already guessed, it's obvious if you know what you're looking for,'

'Oh god, my day has just got even worse, when will the world give me a break and swallow me?' she groaned, laying her forehead on the granite worktop.

'I have a lot of sisters, I know how women work, you talk to Duo much more but you aren't receptive, you are when you talk to Trowa, it's not a big deal, I'm just saying, I'm here if you ever need a friendly ear,' he shrugged, 'what are you doing about clothes?'

'huh? Oh god, I have no idea, I'll go back tomorrow and hopefully I can grab a suitcase full of stuff.' She shrugged, continuing the tea,

'I'll lend you something to sleep in and something for tomorrow then. Go and have an early night, you look exhausted.'

'Why not, can't do any harm,' she stood, draining the cup and putting it in the sink, 'and thanks again Quatre, anything I can ever do for you, let me know, and I mean anything.' She smiled, making her way up to bed.

Quatre brought her a pair of his sister's pyjamas to sleep in and one of his sisters's left behind tops to wear in the morning, she surprised herself when she woke, seemingly having drifted off almost instantly, she got up feeling refreshed for the first time in weeks, maybe a change of scenery was what she'd needed. She adjusted the pyjamas and headed downstairs, glancing at the clock as she did, letting out a squeak, her eyes going wide, running to the kitchen, looking in each of the rooms as she passed, backing up past the Library,

'Trowa! Can you give me a lift? Sorry to ask but I'm late, mega late!' she hung onto the doorframe,

'You're not working today.'

'Buy its Tuesday! I always work Tuesdays!'

'There was a bomb, remember? All non essential personnel are on paid leave until further notice. If anything, you'll be working from here.'

'ah, okay, I'll ah…' she looked around,

'There's a pot of coffee in the kitchen.'

'right, I'll ah, get some coffee.'

She sat in the kitchen, letting her heart rate slow to normal before pouring herself a mug of coffee, taking a sip and then pulling out another mug and pouring another, she picked up both mugs and took them back to the library putting them both on the coffee table that sat in the centre of a "circle" of chairs, smiling at the nod from Trowa as he picked his up. She looked at the two walls lined with books, the two tall windows looking out over the back gardens, each with a window seat, on the large side table that sat in against the wall space between was a pile of books, she turned her head to read the titles,

'Good grief! You guy's own a copy of this?' she turned to him, having pulled out a book from the pile,

'It was fairly enjoyable,'

'I never really liked it,' she told him, looking down at her auto biography, it was a dark grey with one of her masks on the cover,

'it was very honest, it was nice to read about her other work and accomplishments, she seems like a nice person.'

'oooh, a closet fan are we?' she chuckled at him, 'what I mean is, she's twenty something, and threes an autobiography, there should be an age limit on these things, it's just a money making scheme in my eyes.' She caught the slightly raised eyebrow at her tone, 'Any who, where are the other four?'

'Quatre's at a press conference, Heero keeping him company, Duo and Wufei are out digging.'

'Digging?' another look, 'oh, for information, got it. Right, me receptionist, you famous guy with confidential missions.' "Who looks really hot in his pyjamas" her mind added, she stood, turning away to look at the book shelves, her face taking on a tinge of red, why had she failed to notice his lack of clothing before now! All he was wearing were some very loose trousers and a vest, the vest defiantly not hiding his body… books, think of books, she told herself, attempting to read the titles,

'You have plans for the day?' he asked after a few minutes silence,

'not now there's no work! Why, you got something in mind?' her mind took a route to the gutter, she closed her eyes and tried to run through one of her routines to change her mind's subject,

'I'm going to the gun range, if you'd like a lift,'

'I've already had my training…' her mind suddenly caught up with her mouth, he only asked if she wanted a lift, not if she wanted to shoot something!'

'you've had gun training?' she heard him shift from lounging to sitting,

'Yeah, basics, wasn't particularly good, Une offered the basic training to me, probably cause I'm working with you guys, so I wasn't defenceless I guess… a lift into town would be fantastic though, I can get some clothes.' She was thankful for her ability to think on the spot for that one, she needed to contact lady Une to make it look like she had, indeed, completed basic training, 'I'll go get ready and I'll be set to go any time you like.' She dashed out of the room as fast as was acceptable and upstairs to her room, locking the door behind her.

'Madison, please can I come home, I'm going to screw up big time, I'm not used to this!' she groaned into the phone keeping her voice down,

'what, used to social interactions outside your work environment? It'll be good for you!' the other woman laughed,

'I have social interactions, we have a girl's night every week, and I go out sometimes! And that's not what I meant, he's here.' She growled over the laughed on the other end,

'Oh, the Silencer, Mr, tall, dark and oh yes please himself!'

'Mad, you're not helping! I've just had a conversation with him in his pyjamas!'

'Oh really? Nice? Not one of those all in ones with teddy bears on it was it?'

'oh no…. very very nice…..' she trailed off as her mind wandered again,

'so what were you wearing?' the grin could be heard on the phone,

'Oh god…' she looked down at the hot pant style shorts and strappy, but thankfully supported top that were Quatre's sister's pyjamas, 'more than I wear on stage but less than they're used to seeing me in…' she caught herself in the mirror, 'oh man and my hair is doing it again!'

'wonderful! He's seeing the real you! And seeing the "bed" look isn't as bad as it can be! Bet his eyes roamed as much as yours did…. Sooo, did his pj's leave much to the imagination? hmmmm?' she giggled

'honestly you're worse than me! Please let me come home!'

'I'll keep my hands off, you don't have to worry and no, you can't come home, we've got one of your doubles here, we're making it clear she is then we'll send her off on a lovely holiday after your gig where she can change back into herself on the way. It should give you a few weeks breathing space; you have a plan for Friday?'

'Friday? Oh shit!' she threw herself backwards on the bed, 'New York! How the hell am I going to explain that?'

'Well, since I am technically homeless too, I absolutely insist that you come with me to visit my parents in New York for the weekend, I'll pick you up Friday morning, we can car change along the way and I'll drop you home again, we'll do some shopping to if you like, just to make a show of it.' She heard knocking,

'Like I need an excuse to shop! I think I'm going to have to cancel the next few after this, just to be on the safe side….. I'll call you later,' she hung up and opened her door, Trowa was the one knocking, not that it surprised her,

'Everything alright?'

'Yeah fine! Madison phoned…' she caught his eyes scan her quickly, a blush arriving before she could speak, 'I'm gonna get changed, 1 minute!' she turned grabbing the bottom of her top, 'but I'll close this first.' She turned back and shut the door in his face, the mirror revealing that she was indeed bright red and had lifted her top quite a way before she realised he was still in the doorway.

She changed into the trousers she'd worn the day before and into the borrowed top, scraping her hair back into a bun although it needed a wash and was starting to frizz quite severely, managed to put on some eye liner and mascara before realising she'd shut the door in his face.

'oh god.' She let her head fall forward onto the desk, taking a few deep breaths before looking up at herself again,

She was no longer a beetroot, her hair did slightly resemble a pineapple and the green top clashed horribly with her light blue trousers but she looked semi human, she picked up her bag checking her card was in it, and opened the door. Trowa was leaning on the wall opposite, one leg bent, she couldn't help here eyes roaming before she pulled herself together,

'Sorry about that, I'm not good with mornings, as Madison would tell you.' She laughed, falling into step beside him as they made their way to the car.

The car ride itself was silent, the radio was on and she was quick happy to keep her mouth shut in case something else odd popped out of it, he pulled in at the main drop off point in the town centre, telling her to phone if she needed a lift home to which she gave her thanks, flushing beet again. She gave herself a stern talking to in a shop window before realising people where staring and quickly moved on, she was a shopper she had to admit, well, she had the money and the space to store everything, every year she had an auction of her flashier outfits and charity shopped her regular ones, she didn't really horde, a lot anyway. Basics first she decided, underwear, major thing, and something she couldn't really borrow from Quatre, an hour later she emerged from the store, shaking her head at herself, she'd grabbed the packed of do the job underwear and a basic bra and then she had to get attracted by that matching turquoise set and then the lacy black set, the socks, thank goodness were simple, she liked odd socks so two packets of the vibrant trainer socks and she was done.

The sun was beginning to set as she lounged in her chair out front of a coffee shop, the stores closing up and a mountain of bags at her feet, she carefully avoided looking at them, stupid sales, she couldn't resist.

'Whoa, Henry, damn girl, you can shop!' Duo's voice, she looked up, shielding her eyes,

'Hey, Wufei? Duo dragged you shopping?'

'Naaa, I'm not that mean, we've just been wandering around, catching up with a few acquaintances, can we sit or are these chairs permanently taken?' he gestured to the bags,

'oh yeah, sure, pass them here,' she took the bags, grabbing one that duo was trying to peek into, 'and that's my underwear, fuck off.' She chuckled putting it next to her the corner she was sitting in surrounded by hedge so no one could take the bags without her noticing,

'Aww, not even a peek?' she glared, 'fine! But good god woman, that is a hell of a lot of bags!'

'so I'm using yesterday's disaster for personal gain, paid leave after all and I've been saving up!' she smirked,

'personal gain indeed, I head from a little bird that you got a lift into town today. Thanks Wu!'

'Thank you Wufei,' she accepted the coffee he'd brought for her, she would not make a fool of herself in front of Wufei, 'of course I got a lift! I wasn't going to walk!'

'Would you like a lift back?'

'Ah, yes, thank you,' she was a little taken aback by Wufei, she really wasn't used to him outside the office, he was cranky in the office usually, polite, but cranky,

'Well there is no way you'd get all those onto a bus!'

'and to think I'd even got you a present!' she shook her head, 'but if you're going to be like that…'

'A present?' his eyes lit up then narrowed, 'what do you want?'

'Nothing! You guys are letting me stay with you!'

'We don't want anything in return…' Wufei began,

'well it's too late now anyway, you're getting presents if you like it or not!' she gave a final nod and picked up her coffee again.

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Okay, a long one to make up for not being about. Having trouble typing at the moment, (had a scafolding bar fall on my hand) so it might be a while before i upload again, but hope you enjoy this! Please review!

Xandrandra xx


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